Author Topic: Side Hustle - What's Yours?  (Read 10724 times)

OmahaSteph

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Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« on: December 18, 2015, 07:47:49 AM »
My BF needs to supplement his income with some side hustle and I'm having a hard time coming up with suggestions for him as his skill set it sort of non-practical.

His daytime job is large-scale logistics, inventory, slotting, etc. and he almost has his BA in the same (also, he's 47, just FYI). He is a bicycle commuter, so I suggested learning some repair skills, perfecting those skills and then offering them to others at a fair price (we live in bike-friendly region) but he's not the most mechanically inclined. He can cook, but not professionally.

I'm a technical proposal writer by day and I have two degrees in English/Professional Writing & Editing, so I've published four novels, (royalties) plus I edit for a small publisher when I can (royalties there, too).

I'd love to hear what other people do for their side hustles!

lthenderson

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2015, 07:50:16 AM »
I make and sell custom made fountain and ballpoint pens out of deer antler. A tabletop lathe and a set of chisels is all the capital I have for this venture.

GuitarStv

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2015, 08:54:26 AM »
I'm considering panhandling.

I've done some back of the napkin calculations based on the amount of traffic we get in some off-ramps in our area and the number of people who give money . . . and I'm willing to bet that you make 50-100$ an hour during the busiest two hour period in the evening.

HPstache

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2015, 08:56:45 AM »
I think there's an already existing giant thread somewhere around here with everyone's side hustle... But I'll post mine up anyway.  I design and manufacture specialty car parts.

OmahaSteph

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2015, 08:58:14 AM »
I think there's an already existing giant thread somewhere around here with everyone's side hustle... But I'll post mine up anyway.  I design and manufacture specialty car parts.

I had a feeling that might be the case, but I couldn't find it in anything somewhat recent.

10dollarsatatime

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2015, 09:01:14 AM »
Amazon arbitrage.  I buy stuff on clearance in store and online, and resell it online.  I'm to the point where I have to start paying myself, because I can't keep up with spending the capital I'm bringing in.  Life is hard. :)

HPstache

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2015, 09:12:21 AM »
I think there's an already existing giant thread somewhere around here with everyone's side hustle... But I'll post mine up anyway.  I design and manufacture specialty car parts.

I had a feeling that might be the case, but I couldn't find it in anything somewhat recent.

This is the one I'm thinking of:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-has-a-side-gigjob-that-brings-in-extra-cash-share-with-us!/

OmahaSteph

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2015, 09:14:30 AM »
Amazon arbitrage.  I buy stuff on clearance in store and online, and resell it online.  I'm to the point where I have to start paying myself, because I can't keep up with spending the capital I'm bringing in.  Life is hard. :)

I work for a public finance law firm and just swooned at the word "arbitrage," lol. Isn't this really time-consuming? Did you have to invest in a lot of capital at first?

shotgunwilly

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2015, 09:22:39 AM »
I'm considering panhandling.

I've done some back of the napkin calculations based on the amount of traffic we get in some off-ramps in our area and the number of people who give money . . . and I'm willing to bet that you make 50-100$ an hour during the busiest two hour period in the evening.

Hey, if you can live with yourself being a piece of shit human being, go for it.

(Obviously know you're joking)

AZDude

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2015, 09:28:07 AM »
He will probably need to either learn a new skill or take on meaningless, hourly jobs that suck.

GuitarStv

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #10 on: December 18, 2015, 09:33:06 AM »
Wait, why is panhandling not OK?  Are you under the impression that everyone you see panhandling needs to follow some kind of code of ethics related to the job?

AZDude

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2015, 09:36:06 AM »
Depends. Are you deceiving people into thinking you are homeless or in desperate need of the money, or are you holding a sign that says "This is better than working retail"?

OmahaSteph

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2015, 09:40:02 AM »
I think there's an already existing giant thread somewhere around here with everyone's side hustle... But I'll post mine up anyway.  I design and manufacture specialty car parts.

I had a feeling that might be the case, but I couldn't find it in anything somewhat recent.

This is the one I'm thinking of:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-has-a-side-gigjob-that-brings-in-extra-cash-share-with-us!/

Ohhh, this is excellent!!! Thanks for digging that up!

shotgunwilly

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2015, 09:40:39 AM »
Wait, why is panhandling not OK?  Are you under the impression that everyone you see panhandling needs to follow some kind of code of ethics related to the job?

I never said panhandling is not OK.  But for one to be successful at panhandling you typically hold a sign that reads something like "Hungry, need food." or "Homeless and need help," or some other means of looking in desperate need of help.  And you, obviously not starving or homeless if you're able to be on the internet, would be lying to thousands of people for financial gain.  I.e, a piece of shit. 
« Last Edit: December 18, 2015, 09:42:19 AM by shotgunwilly »

reader2580

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2015, 09:41:03 AM »
I sell concessions in the summer once a month.  I am not getting rich off it, but I make enough to make it worth my time.  I do it more to help out the club I work with than for the money.

reader2580

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2015, 09:44:18 AM »
Various news organizations have followed pan handlers home and have determined that the vast majority of them are basically con artists.  Some of them get into a decent car and drive home to decent house.  Pan handling is their job, and they aren't doing it because they are broke or homeless.  For them a couple of hundred in cash every day that isn't taxed is better than a real job.

shotgunwilly

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2015, 09:45:28 AM »
Various news organizations have followed pan handlers home and have determined that the vast majority of them are basically con artists.  Some of them get into a decent car and drive home to decent house.  Pan handling is their job, and they aren't doing it because they are broke or homeless.  For them a couple of hundred in cash every day that isn't taxed is better than a real job.

Can you guess how I label these type of people?

GuitarStv

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2015, 09:53:52 AM »
Wait, why is panhandling not OK?  Are you under the impression that everyone you see panhandling needs to follow some kind of code of ethics related to the job?

I never said panhandling is not OK.  But for one to be successful at panhandling you typically hold a sign that reads something like "Hungry, need food." or "Homeless and need help," or some other means of looking in desperate need of help.  And you, obviously not starving or homeless if you're able to be on the internet, would be lying to thousands of people for financial gain.  I.e, a piece of shit. 

The regulars (who switch off by day of the week, there are five of them . . . and they've been doing it for at least three years) at my highway turn off all use the same sign that says "Every little bit helps".  That's kinda what I was picturing in my hypothetical.  The regulars also take any food and drink given to them (except coffee, they drink that) and throw it in the ditch behind where they sit.  I've been watching them closely for several years now.

Do most people actually believe signs about being starving and homeless?  If we were looking for accuracy an awful lot more of them would read  "Help fund my drug dealer's retirement fund".  As long as people are just going to hand money out to folks for standing by the side of the road (rather than to charities and organizations that help people who are really in need) I don't see anything unethical about taking a slice of that action.

I've always seen panhandling as akin to selling a service.  They're selling the lie that your money is going to help someone.  You give the money so that you feel better about motoring around in your car.  Who the money actually goes to, or what it's used for is obviously irrelevant to the giver . . . or they would donate it to a well run group that helps the homeless.

shotgunwilly

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #18 on: December 18, 2015, 10:04:34 AM »
Wait, why is panhandling not OK?  Are you under the impression that everyone you see panhandling needs to follow some kind of code of ethics related to the job?

I never said panhandling is not OK.  But for one to be successful at panhandling you typically hold a sign that reads something like "Hungry, need food." or "Homeless and need help," or some other means of looking in desperate need of help.  And you, obviously not starving or homeless if you're able to be on the internet, would be lying to thousands of people for financial gain.  I.e, a piece of shit. 

The regulars (who switch off by day of the week, there are five of them . . . and they've been doing it for at least three years) at my highway turn off all use the same sign that says "Every little bit helps".  That's kinda what I was picturing in my hypothetical.  The regulars also take any food and drink given to them (except coffee, they drink that) and throw it in the ditch behind where they sit.  I've been watching them closely for several years now.

Do most people actually believe signs about being starving and homeless?  If we were looking for accuracy an awful lot more of them would read  "Help fund my drug dealer's retirement fund".  As long as people are just going to hand money out to folks for standing by the side of the road (rather than to charities and organizations that help people who are really in need) I don't see anything unethical about taking a slice of that action.

I've always seen panhandling as akin to selling a service.  They're selling the lie that your money is going to help someone.  You give the money so that you feel better about motoring around in your car.  Who the money actually goes to, or what it's used for is obviously irrelevant to the giver . . . or they would donate it to a well run group that helps the homeless.

We're in agreement that the majority of panhandlers are lying to get money for drugs, alcohol, or whatever else they can waste it on.  This is why I do not give handouts to panhandlers, especially after some bad experiences with trying to help beggers.  And these terrible human beings are doing a disservice for actual homeless and hungry people.  1. Taking money that could have gone to the actual needy, and 2. Keeping people like me from giving.

But, joining them to get a slice of that action? Cmon dude. If you don't see anything unethical about this then you're fucked up.

10dollarsatatime

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #19 on: December 18, 2015, 10:09:13 AM »
Amazon arbitrage.  I buy stuff on clearance in store and online, and resell it online.  I'm to the point where I have to start paying myself, because I can't keep up with spending the capital I'm bringing in.  Life is hard. :)

I work for a public finance law firm and just swooned at the word "arbitrage," lol. Isn't this really time-consuming? Did you have to invest in a lot of capital at first?

It can be time consuming.  Sometimes you find gold right away and sometimes you look for a couple of hours and come away with just a little bit.  My biggest score to date was an item I found on sale online.  Spent $700 for 41 units.  Sold them all for $90 a piece.  The time investment for that score was about 1 hour; a couple of minutes to buy, and then when I got them, I listed, labeled, and sent them off for Amazon FBA to take care of.  Getting things ready to ship is really the worst, most time-consuming part, but I'm getting more efficient as I go along.

I started with just about $100 out of pocket as an experiment and have just been rolling it back into inventory for the past year and a half.  And now I'm sitting on more money than I can spend only doing this part time when I feel like it.  I have most of the next two weeks off though.  I'm thinking I'll spend as much as I can and then pay myself whatever is left, and that will have to be the method from now on.  ...again... life is hard. :)

GuitarStv

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #20 on: December 18, 2015, 10:15:55 AM »
We're in agreement that the majority of panhandlers are lying to get money for drugs, alcohol, or whatever else they can waste it on.  This is why I do not give handouts to panhandlers, especially after some bad experiences with trying to help beggers.  And these terrible human beings are doing a disservice for actual homeless and hungry people.  1. Taking money that could have gone to the actual needy, and 2. Keeping people like me from giving.

I don't agree with your first point.  If anyone cared about the homeless at all, they wouldn't give to panhandlers . . . they would give to people who can help.  Therefore people handing out money have already proven they don't care about the homeless.  I don't believe their money would have ever gone to needy people.

As to your second point . . . there's no reason to prevent you from giving to groups that help the homeless.  That's basically the only way to provide support.  Nobody should ever give to panhandlers though.

shotgunwilly

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #21 on: December 18, 2015, 10:31:29 AM »
We're in agreement that the majority of panhandlers are lying to get money for drugs, alcohol, or whatever else they can waste it on.  This is why I do not give handouts to panhandlers, especially after some bad experiences with trying to help beggers.  And these terrible human beings are doing a disservice for actual homeless and hungry people.  1. Taking money that could have gone to the actual needy, and 2. Keeping people like me from giving.

I don't agree with your first point.  If anyone cared about the homeless at all, they wouldn't give to panhandlers . . . they would give to people who can help.  Therefore people handing out money have already proven they don't care about the homeless.  I don't believe their money would have ever gone to needy people.

As to your second point . . . there's no reason to prevent you from giving to groups that help the homeless.  That's basically the only way to provide support.  Nobody should ever give to panhandlers though.

There's a big difference between people being too naive to realize their money isn't helping actual homeless, and them not caring for the homeless at all.  Alot of people actually believe the person they are giving money to on the side of the road really needs it.  As for my 1st point... if there's 5 panhandlers on the street, and 1 of them is actually homeless and a passerby sees 5 but only picks one and gives to one of the liars... then the actual homeless guy missed out. You're assuming that ALL panhandlers are not actually in need. 

I'm going to stop so we can get back on topic.

Fishindude

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #22 on: December 18, 2015, 10:40:46 AM »
From my perspective, a good side hustle is generally some pretty basic, simple "work" that others don't care to do; cut grass, clean gutters, wash windows, shampoo carpets, rake leaves, paint, seal driveways, trim trees, cut firewood, detail cars, shovel snow, etc., etc.

You name it ...... Probably a whole lot of things like this that you already have the tools and skills for.



mozar

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #23 on: December 18, 2015, 01:52:30 PM »
I've considered doing my own concessions stand for a local labor day festival. The options for food are sadly lacking. But mostly I would have trouble not eating the product. Maybe I should just make my own deep fried oreos.

Roboturner

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #24 on: December 18, 2015, 01:54:33 PM »
Fix and flip video game consoles, cherry pick the easiest cases - and allows me to play video games under the guise of "testing"

dalexa1010

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #25 on: December 22, 2015, 01:47:03 PM »
I buy items from thrift stores and resell them on Ebay.  It has replaced my wife's income now that she stays at home plus some.  Pretty easy to do, you just have to have knowledge and experience of what will sell and set some goals.  I do not buy anything that will not at least triple my money and it has worked pretty well for us.

Kitsune

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #26 on: December 22, 2015, 01:50:04 PM »
I've done small-time gigs organizing small businesses (people who are good at manual labour but can't figure out cost analysis,income tracking, tax software, etc, and who are willing to pay someone to come in, sort out their stuff, set them up a system and teach them to use it.) My day job is as a project manager and business development manager, so... transferable skill set!

Roboturner

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #27 on: December 22, 2015, 02:24:31 PM »
I buy items from thrift stores and resell them on Ebay.  It has replaced my wife's income now that she stays at home plus some.  Pretty easy to do, you just have to have knowledge and experience of what will sell and set some goals.  I do not buy anything that will not at least triple my money and it has worked pretty well for us.

what would you say are your go-tos? electronics? or clothing/furniture?

dalexa1010

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #28 on: December 22, 2015, 02:28:14 PM »
I buy items from thrift stores and resell them on Ebay.  It has replaced my wife's income now that she stays at home plus some.  Pretty easy to do, you just have to have knowledge and experience of what will sell and set some goals.  I do not buy anything that will not at least triple my money and it has worked pretty well for us.

what would you say are your go-tos? electronics? or clothing/furniture?

I always have a significant portion of clothing just because the area I work in keeps very well known brands and in almost new condition.  I do very well with toys and older electronics that you cannot find anymore.  You would be amazed at what people will buy off Ebay.

boarder42

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #29 on: December 22, 2015, 02:42:59 PM »
Scalp tickets. Sports tickets those stupid teany bop concert tickets. Beer festival tickets used to be lucrative not as much anymore I think there are too many festivals now.

thedayisbrave

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #30 on: December 22, 2015, 03:12:44 PM »
Freelance social media manager.  Extra few hundred bucks a month for work I can do from anywhere.. which nets me more money hourly than my job with clown car commute.


pk_aeryn

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Re: Side Hustle - What's Yours?
« Reply #31 on: December 22, 2015, 05:23:10 PM »
How/where did you find a freelance social media manager job?